Much to see
by TheRedPenofDoom87
Summary: Oneshot rated for safety. Neytiri re-lives her memories of Jake as she waits for him to transfer to his Avatar body. Post-movie sort of


**AN: hey guys! So i saw Avatar last week...OMG...i freaking loved it, if you haven't seen it yet, don't waste another second, you will not be sorry! I could not get Jake and Neytiri out of my head. I was(and still am) absolutely in love with their story and I felt the need to write! I promise i will finish "The Second Sister," infact, I'm gonna finish up the next chapter here after I post this.**

**This is set directly after the battle but before Jake transfers to his Avatar body. Everything in italics are Neytiri's memories, things we didn't see in the movie.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.**

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****"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."~****Emily Bronte**

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My Jake watches the stars as the twilight begins to cloak the skies, mingled relief and sadness flooding through him…and me. I see flashes of a human who looks exactly like my Jake, but different somehow, other humans at war and a small blue-green planet growing smaller and smaller. The thoughts are erratic and half-formed. I see myself often and Dr. Grace, too, as she lay open to Eywa.

I step carefully across the rocky outcrop that extends over the valley. I make no noise but I can see his ears perk and twitch. He makes no move to turn or even seem to notice that I have arrived but he knows I am there.

He was finally able to jump to his dreamwalker body to escort the other sky people off our world this morning. But the link would not last through the night he told me when the other sky people had gone. As soon as he closes his eyes, he would awake in the tiny metal box, much like the one that almost crushed him.

I sit just behind him, tracing the lines of his shoulders and neck and note the beauty in his skin, the warmth, texture and soft stripes. I note the line of his forehead in profile, how it tapers down into his sky people shaped eyes, high cheekbones and lips. So lovely…and all mine.

I press mine to the base of his neck and settle myself against him, letting my comfort pour over his troubled thoughts like a waterfall washing away the rough edges of the rocks below.

"My Neytiri," he murmurs as a greeting, reaching around to pull to his side.

"You are sad, my Jake?" I wonder as I, too, raise my eyes to the skies.

He is quiet for a moment as we watch a small bright shape move up through the darkening sky.

"Are you sad they are leaving?" I want to know. I would not blame him, it is only natural and it would explain his whirling thoughts. "They may be stupid, but they are your people." I reason a little sadly.

He turns slightly, his strange eyes roaming over me and finally settle on mine. "No, they aren't. Not anymore." There is a tiny smile on his lips, a half one that he uses when he looks at me. "This is where I belong."

"You will not miss them?" I wonder as I reach up and place my hands against his cheeks to pull him closer. "The other sky people? Your mother? Father?"

He frowns. "I have my memories," his hand presses against mine. "But I have something here that I didn't have on Earth."

"What is that?" I know the answer but I like to hear him say it.

His gaze softens as he grins at me. "You." He replies in his lovely deep voice. "I'm ready to let that life go."

I smile. "Mo'at says she will be ready to perform the ritual tomorrow at sunset." I kiss him just under his ear. "I will be there."

"The first thing I see," he replies as if repeating something from a dream.

"Always," I promise.

* * *

"There is much to see," my mother always said. She was right of course. I never knew how much until now.

I smile down at the sky people body of my Jake. I am here, my Jake, I say to him through the bond we share. I sense his eagerness to shed this fragile form but also his apprehension to leave me. I trace the line of his face with a single finger, I will be here; I will wait.

Before us, Mother sings to Eywa. She asks for the safe passage of Jakesully, the warrior who saved us all from the violent sky people. She employs that Eywa look into Jakesully's fearless heart and let him pass into his permanent body.

The tiny shriveled body of my Jake lies at the base of the Tree of Souls. His tiny minute fingers, however many there are, are clenched into fists at his side as his impossibly small chest makes only shallow attempts at moving up and down. The mask on his face reflects the light from the Tree of Souls and his tiny human eyes begin to spin, unfocused.

My mother looks to me, nodding. Since we have bonded, I will help pull him to his new body. Mother told me to relive all of my memories of him, to remind him of what he is fighting for.

He lets out a large exhale and his eyes close. Our bond, though an echo of what it can be, is still here and I can still feel him. He is still my Jake. He may be tiny and pale and ugly but I See him for what he really is. Something that I could not see all those months ago and it resides in neither body.

*~*

"_There is much to see," my mother insisted after she allowed the dreamwalker, Jakesully, to live and decided to assign me as his teacher. "Eywa has her reasons. I hope you will open your eyes to See."_

"_I do See," I snapped. I pointed to where Jakesully tried to speak with a few others, my ears flat against my skull. "I See that he is an impostor, a mockery against Eywa!"_

_Mother growled. "Then why did you not kill him when you saw him?!"_

_I opened my mouth to argue but I could not. _

"_Eywa sent you a sign, daughter!" Mother insisted. "And you must learn that there is much to be Seen from this Jakesully."_

"_Why would Eywa choose a…dreamwalker?!" I asked as I remembered how clumsily Jakesully moved in his false body and the fierce, ugly sky people expression on his face against the __Nantang. __I remembered the strength in my arm as I drew the arrow back on the string. Stupid dream walker did not hear, he could not even see._

_I was all ready to end this dream walker's suffering when I heard a voice as clear as my own. _Stop. _A small white spirit landed on my arrow head, waiting. I watched the dream walker turn, the fire shining a light onto his face. Despite his eerie face, he had a fearless heart. He was not afraid of the circling __Nantang, not of the jungle or of anything. _

"_Would you imply that Eywa has made a mistake?" Mother's voice was dangerous and hard. My father would say to proceed at my own peril, that my mother and I were cut from the same branch, which is often where our rip-roaring arguments come from. _

"_I don't…understand…" I replied quietly. "Eywa…"_

"_-Will reveal Her will in good time," Mother finished for me. "You will See."_

_I glanced out to the center of Hometree as many of the Omaticaya throw Jakesully suspicious looks. _

_Mother pressed her palms against my cheeks. "You are strong in Eywa, my daughter. You are a fierce warrior for Her and you love the People with every piece of your heart. I have no doubt that when I go to Eywa, I will leave them in very capable hands."_

_I let my eyes catch hers; they were mirrors to one another. So alike, my father would often note, and yet so different. _

_Mother smiled her lovely smile. "I See you. I See your courage, your strength, your beauty and your spirit. I hope that you will demand the same from your future mate."_

_I gestured to Tsu'Tey who was holding court with his warriors. Tsu'Tey was what any woman would want; strong, quick, good hunter and no fear. I had always known that he and I would one day be united. "I thought it had been decided already."_

_Mother turned, her hand still resting on my shoulder. "It would be good for the_ _Omaticayan. Tsu'Tey is beloved among them…as are you…but," she was smiling as she said this. "There is much to see."_

_I followed her gaze to the dreamwalker._

"_Much to see."_

_*~*_

Suddenly, the tiny chest lay still, the breath all but gone from his body. As the last breath fell from his lips, the hands un-curled and lay entangled in the grass, his muscles relaxed and then, my Jake is gone from this shell. I reach over and pull the mask off his sky people face.

I lean down and brush kisses on both of the cold cheeks. I thank this tiny body for bringing my Jake to me. It has travelled so very far and now must rest far from its own kind.

But this husk is empty and my Jake is passing through the eye of Eywa.

The body that won the trust of the Omaticaya, lies curled at the base of the Tree like the baby I used to call him. The beautiful blue skin shines in the light, the eyes closed and the lips soft. This is the body I love, but without my Jake smiling out from its eyes…it is not him.

Around us, the song reaches new heights and I join in. Ninhat glances down at me, a smile on her face as her sweet voice rises and falls in tune to the song.

*~*

"_Come Jakesully!" I called over my shoulder, laughing. "You will miss it!" We raced through the jungle; our feet barely touched the earth. All around us, the forest sang with our joy. We were alive, we were fast and we knew it. I glanced behind me again and my student wasn't far behind._

_He laughed as he ran, obviously taking great pleasure in each step, his tail streaming out behind him. His fingers brushed each tree and with each touch there was a burst of light. The forest celebrated his joy as well. He could See; I knew it as I had for a long while._

_We came to a stop at the top of a waterfall, not from where we first met. _

"_What are we-?" He started but I brushed his hand it was all it took to silence him. I pointed to the sky and the coming night. _

"_Listen to the land around you, feel the energy moving, changing," I urged him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the land took one as well. Day passed into night, the world shifted and began again. The jungle sang with Eywa, a perfect duet and each creature, each person had a part to perform as well. I saw Jake's lips move in rhythm to the song that moved through us all._

"_See." I instructed._

_Jake opened his eyes and stared up in wonder as the sky darkened to violet with flashes of lavender against the dark shapes of the trees. Bright flashes of the night life threw up jungle-bound stars that reflected against the sky. Even as someone who had lived her whole life in this place, it still took my breath away. A few ikran dipped low and called out to their brethren. Beside me, I felt Jake twitch with anticipation. He longed to fly, to be weightless and free, a feeling, he once told me, he never got back on his home planet. Jake was ready for the trek to choose an ikran._

"_Come," I whispered. "It is time to return to Hometree." I let Jake lead the way as he knew it then._

"_Neytiri?" He asked. "Is this where we met?"_

_I laughed as he looked back, curious and waiting. "You are Seeing." I_ _conceded__._

_He glanced around, eyes wide as he tried to take in everything again but this time he Saw it with new eyes. "I was a moron…" he noted._

_I grinned and grabbed his tail, a game we played. "Who says you still are not?" I challenged._

_Jake didn't let it go that easily. The comment or the tail pulling. He gave a soft playful growl and tried to grab my tail as we picked up the pace to a run, chasing one another and laughing as we often did these days. Eywa's song swelled in my chest as I ran, laughing with …my-_

_It was then that I took a misstep. I was too focused on the game at hand that I tripped. Then suddenly, we were at a standstill, both of his hands were braced under mine, keeping me from falling flat on my face. He'd grown so fast in the last few months, I realized. I hadn't even seen him come to my side._

_Jake's head cocked to one side, confused. "You all right? You never trip…" His strange intense eyes held no revulsion for me. His hands were strong, warm and welcoming but there was a strange exchange of energy when his skin connected to mine. _

"_I am fine." I righted myself._

"_You're sure?" his hand was still on my elbow, steadying me if I needed it. The look in his eyes…it was the same the day I corrected his stance with the bow. There was something there, an intensity…a longing. For a brief second I Saw it all, all of him. His strength, his spirit, his courage, his…beauty even in his strange not quite Na'vi, not quite sky people face. Without warning my mother's words flashed in my head. "I hope you will demand the same from your future mate."_

"_Neytiri?" He whispered his voice soft but deep. "Neytiri?"_

_I jumped back to myself. "I am fine," I repeated and pulled my arm away from his touch. "We should go." As we wondered back to Hometree, though, we played the looking game; I refused to look at him when I felt his eyes on me and he always looked away from me when I watched him. _

"_Netyri!" I heard Pidal and Ninhat call from one of the upper levels. "There you are!" Ninhat waved broadly. _

_I nodded a goodbye to my pupil and went up to curl into the comfort of my friends. Ninhat began playing my hair as Pidal sharpened her hunting knife both greeted me with large smiles and laughter that I missed._

"_How is the dream walker?" Ninhat wondered in her melodious voice, almost singing even now. _

_I shrugged._

"_For a sky people," Pidal observed in her usual calm but blunt way. "He learns quickly." She had accompanied him and I on a hunt a few days ago. If it were possible, Pidal was an even stricter teacher than I was. _

"_He may be stupid, but," I knew that flirtatious tone in Ninhat's voice. "He is strangely attractive." She leaned over to watch Jake walk into Hometree surrounded by Dr. Grace's students. They found a seat to practice their language exchange; their Na'vi for his English. As I sat there watching him, he looked up to smile at me. _

"_He has sky people eyes," Pidal stated as if it were the end of the matter. Pidal had no patience for Ninhat's line of thinking. The only thing she had patience for was the hunt and she was far better at it then even I was. _

"_Oh Pidal," Ninhat giggled._

"_She's right." I agreed._

"_Neytiri!" Ninhat scolded. "You two are no fun!"_

_Pidal, as she always had been, was the voice of reason. "Ninhat, don't break the poor dream walker's heart. We all know you love Ist-Tey," She nodded at the tall man who sat next to Jake. They had become friends in the last few weeks. "Neytiri," Pidal pressed my hand. "And Tsu'Tey are intended. She doesn't need to look further." In true Pidal fashion, with her task done, she got up and left._

"_Pidal sees…" Ninhat noted. "But I wonder if you do."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You know," She picked at my braids. "You would look so lovely if you un-braided some of these…Not so harsh."_

_I swatted her hand away, snarling. "Maybe I like looking like this."  
Ninhat smiled sweetly. "Or is it because you like how the dream walker looks at you?" She whispered._

_I opened my mouth to argue but Tsu'Tey suddenly took Pidal's place next to me. "I see you, Neytiri." He greeted me with a small smile._

"_I see you, Tsu'Tey." I replied quietly, my thoughts unable to settle._

"_How is the __Skxawng__?" he guffawed. When I did not join him, Ninhat looked between us and vanished. But as she passed Jake, she pranced a little and began to sing, seemingly under her breath, but all the men within three feet to turn and look at her. Jake, however, was oblivious._

"_He has a fearless heart," I replied to Tsu'Tey finally. "… Jake…" I paused as I almost said 'My Jake'. "…will make the trek and choose an ikran soon. He is ready."_

_Tsu'Tey's hand lingered over mine, his fingers tracing the stripes, the veins, the ligaments. He knew my strength and my spirit but I wondered if he Saw me. If he had ever really Seen me. "You spend too much time with him, Neytiri." Tsu'Tey's voice was low and dangerous, almost accusatory. _

"_He needs my help if he wants to be one of the People," I retorted. "And my mother assigned me to him…"_

_Tsu'Tey shrugged. "I do not trust him."_

"_He has more courage than most, Na'vi or sky people, I have seen it."_

"_And is that why Eywa saved him from you?" Tsu'Tey speculated._

"_Would you disobey Eywa so absolutely?" I hissed, his tone beginning to agitate me. "When She speaks so clearly it's as if She were there speaking in your ear?" _

"_He will never be one of the People," Tsu'Tey was sure as he laced through mine. "Soon, this will all be behind us, this Sky People business. Things will go back…"_

_But things would never be the same. I knew that. Jakesully's presence here had changed everything and I could not ignore it any longer. Tsu'Tey's touch was not the one I craved; his smile was not the one I looked forward to. When I spoke, Jake listened, he Saw me. For all our years together, Tsu'Tey still could not See me._

_I pulled my hand away. "There is much to See…" I replied._

_*~*_

The connection is growing weaker and weaker the farther he enters into the eye of Eywa. I sit next to my Jake's new body, singing the songs into his ear. Now I must send him the most powerful memories I own and there is no more potent memory than the one I re-live when my Jake has slipped back into his sky people body.

*~*

_We lay spent, limbs intertwined but still exploring; finding new places to touch, small pleasures to inventory for later. But I would never get enough of him, his touch, taste, smell. The sight of him laid bare to me and me alone. The knowledge that no one else would ever know him the way I did now made me realize that there could be no one as lucky as I._

"_Go to sleep, my Jake," I giggled a little as his new name fell off my tongue. It was the first time in a while either of us had spoken aloud. We had spent the last few hours becoming used to having the other in our minds; there were no outright words, but feelings, memories, thoughts that would become permanent. _

_My Jake smiled sleepily as he sat up on his elbows a little to kiss me again. "No," he argued sleepily as he ran his thumb over my shoulder. "I don't want to…not yet…" He was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open. He lay flat on his back with his arms tight around me, holding me as close to him as possible._

"_I will be here," I promised, tracing a stripe over his chest. He shivered a little at my touch, but a bold smile stole over his lips. "I will always be here. Nothing can ever part us now."_

_There was a sudden sadness in his beautiful eyes, the same one that weighed on his mind. He exhaled a tired but happy sigh._

_I frowned, sensing this sadness and worry. It made me shudder "Do you regret…?"_

"_No," he replied quickly; the connection flooded with images of us only hours before and a great swell of joy and belonging that come from it. "Never…" his voice rumbled through me "It's just…"_

"_What is it, my Jake?"_

"_You know what I am," he pressed his palm against my temple. "Dream walker….Sky people…"his eyes and thoughts searched mine as well for something that he needed. Something that I was all too ready to give._

"_I See you, my Jake" I pressed my forehead to his._

_When I pulled back, I saw him smile again, but bigger and broader. "I See you, my Neytiri." He replied gently, mirroring my gesture. His eyelids began to droop again when he pulled back._

"_Sleep," I whispered, burrowing against his side._

"_This is a dream," he murmured, his arm still around me._

"_Then, I will be the first thing you see when you wake up." I promised. "There will be much to see."_

_I watch as my Jake slips into slumber, a contended, even triumphant smile on his lips. _

_*~*_

My heart stops and trips over itself as Jake's does. It falters and flutters. And catches.

A silence.

And then a beat; his and mine. And again and again.

Slowly but surely, my Jake fills his new body. My Jake! Oh my Jake, I'm here! I'm here…Come back to me!

His eyes snap open, spinning in every direction until he sees me. Our bond, our song sings louder and louder. He greedily sucks in deep breaths and then is quiet for a moment. Still.

His muscles are warm under my hands, they shudder with life. He suppresses the urge to leap up and dance. He waits and catalogues everything; his toes twitch, fingers flex and his eyes swivel as he takes it all in.

"I See you," I whisper to him, stroking the side of his face. "I See you, my Jake."

His golden eyes focus on mine, his hands move slowly to my mine. "I See you, my Neytiri."

I had no doubt that my Jake would be strong enough to make it back to me, but I am glad all the same. "And there is much to see."


End file.
